


And Counting

by Hagar



Series: Project: Aftermath [3]
Category: Power Rangers Turbo
Genre: Angst, Character Study, Gen, Vignette
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2004-06-14
Updated: 2004-06-14
Packaged: 2017-10-02 16:39:38
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,001
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8473
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Hagar/pseuds/Hagar
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Diary, pen, stickers, needle. All ready.</p>
            </blockquote>





	And Counting

**Author's Note:**

> Loving gratitude to beta reader Roie.

Diary. Pen. Stickers. Needle. All ready. Justin took a deep breath.

** _One... _ **

He hadn't started keeping a diary until some two months after he became a Ranger. It was one birthday Justin would never forget, seeing as it started with Divatox sending him a wired bike for a birthday gift. Tommy and the others got Justin off the bike, and together they beat the monster. The emotional high of victory, combined with the surprise party and his dad's appearance, made Justin put aside the day's battle until late in the evening.

He was in the best of moods when his dad returned him to the shelter, and the mood carried him to sleep. Only when thirst woke him up, some hours later, did it hit Justin how close his birthday came to being his deathday. Justin vividly remembered how the glass nearly slipped from his sweating hand, how he returned to bed, shaking all over, trying hard not to cry.

It took two months of Rangering for the message of death to sink in his mind, and two more days for him to act upon it. He couldn't write about Rangering, naturally – certainly not with all the other kids in the shelter – but Justin wasn't a certified prodigy for nothing. He found his own way to record his battles.

** _Two…_ **

Starting a diary was one of the first ideas he thought of. The only problem was, how to manage it in such a way that it wouldn't give away the secret of his identity? For a while, Justin entertained the idea of writing in code, but he dismissed it: he did not want anyone who might stumble across his diary to realize that there was anything hidden there. He considered newspaper clippings, but those, too, seemed too obvious.

Images were the next logical choice. Seeing as he couldn't draw all that well, he came to the idea of stickers. They were the perfect idea, really: easy to get and inconspicuous. He put a fish for each quarrel with the Piranhatrones, a car for each monster they defeated. It wasn't much, really, but it made his heart easier.

** _Three…_ **

Fish and cars were all he needed for two months. Then came Flamite.

It was the worst battle Justin had participated in until then, and his second worst total. Flamite kicked their buts, Tommy was kidnapped, and Justin hasn't felt so incompetent since his very first days as a Ranger. It wasn't the worst of it, though. By then Justin knew how to get past post-battle depression.

He saw the people running in the streets. Some of them made it to the shelters, but not all. Those who didn't make it were burnt to death. He saw it, and could do nothing about it. Or rather, he did what he could but they died anyway – which was even worse. It was the first time people died on his shift.

It was hard getting to the store that day, but he managed it. He knew it would take a few days to complete the body count, but it was important to him to buy the stickers that very day. He spent a long time in front of the sticker rack, and ended up picking candles.

** _Four…_ **

If the battle with Flamite was his second worst, the battle with Goldgoyle was certainly the worst. No words were enough to describe a monster that lost them two sets of Zords in one battle. It was a total knockout: the Rangers had plans in case they lost one set, but they never imagined they would loose both of them. Dark Specter's interference was their luck: if the monarch of Evil wouldn't have called Divatox away, then the fall of the Ranger would've been complete.

But Dark Specter _has_ interfered, and the Rangers lived.

It was heartbreaking, having to stand by the commboard at NASADA headquarters while his friends and teammates took off into the unknown, but Justin knew it was the right thing to do. For one thing, he wasn't going to break his dad's heart just when they were finally about to live together again; for another, Justin knew that by getting on that shuttle, he would be endangering all of their identities – and that was a no-no. So he told TJ that "the missing person" couldn't come with them, and fought back his tears until late at night, when he was alone in his bad; and even then, he cried silently, so his dad wouldn't hear.

** _Five…_ **

He didn't mark his diary with fish anymore, because there weren't any Piranhatrones; he didn't use car stickers, because the new Zords were nothing like cars; and he did not put candles to mark the dead, because it wasn't enough anymore.

He didn't mark the drone quarrels, because he had no way to follow up on them; he put small stars for each monster beaten by his old teammates and whatever new allies they made; but the dead weren't marked with stickers anymore.

Biting his lip, Justin squeezed his finger one last time.

** _Six._ **

The last drop of blood fell on the page. Justin sucked on his finger. Within less then an hour, no mark would be visible on it. Lucky for him that he still healed quickly than most, because almost every other day on his diary was marked. Whoever the new villains were, they were working hard.

Justin left the diary open to dry, and went over to the bathroom. He cleaned the needle under the running water. Only when no blood was visible on it did he close the tap and wipe the needle dry. Secrets, Justin decided a long time ago, definitely sucked.

He went back to his room. His heart was yet to heal, true; Carlos, Cassie, TJ, Cassie and their new teammates were fighting for Earth and for their lives, true; but, hard as it was, Justin knew only one way to honor them: to get on with his life – and remember.


End file.
